A TODDLER was battered to death after two major police blunders meant a man convicted of child cruelty was left to roam free without supervision.

A TODDLER was battered to death after two major police blunders meant a man convicted of child cruelty was left to roam free without supervision.

Darren Bennett, aged 26, formerly of Shard End Crescent, Shard End, was jailed for life earlier this month for murdering 18-month-old Jordan McGann.

Today the Mail can reveal that Bennett had not been under proper supervision by the Probation Service because simple paperwork was not filled in properly.

Bennett should have been registered as a 'Schedule One' offender and placed under intensive supervision once released back into the community after serving a three-year-jail term for battering a three-year-old girl in 2002.

But he slipped through the net because his original custody files wrongly stated that Bennett had served time for assaulting the victim's mum - and not her young daughter.

Bennett was then wanted by police in connection with claims that he had battered another girlfriend. But when officers stopped him for a minor offence, just six days before he killed Jordan, they released him because computer records were not up-to-date with the alleged assault.

An independent inquiry is now being carried out by the Area Child Protection Committee to determine what lessons can be learned from Jordan's tragic death in August 2004, and whether it was preventable.

The result is due next month, but a source close to the inquiry said: "He should have been monitored closely but wasn't because he wasn't put down as a serious offender.

"The form was marked as if he had attacked the mother and not the child. He never went down as attacking a child." Without proper surveillance on his lifestyle and movements, Bennett was free to worm his way into the lives of unassuming young mums.

Among those was Sarah Collins, the mother of Jordan, who was jailed for 18 months after admitting two counts of child cruelty when she allowed Bennett to care for daughter, knowing there was a risk.

Another girlfriend was Charlene Rawlings, 21, from Chelmsley Wood, who, after enduring weeks of regular beatings, eventually reported him to police.

Officers spent six weeks trying to find Bennett, inviting him to attend the police station for interview on a number of occasions, but he failed to show.

The source said: "The police simply failed to find him and didn't go looking for him.

"They didn't circulate his details as wanted and in that time he had moved in with Sarah Collins and her young family."

Bennett was eventually stopped by police for a minor motoring matter. But because there was no marker next to his name on the Police National Computer to inform the officers Bennett was wanted by colleagues, he was allowed to walk free.

Six days later little Jordan, the defenceless victim of a brutal thug, lay dead.

When Bennett was jailed for life at Birmingham Crown Court, he was ordered to serve a minimum 24 years behind bars.

The court heard that Bennett, prone to " explosions of anger", had thrown the little girl through the air, shook her and slammed her head against a hard surface.

A Probation Service spokesman said: "We are unable to comment while the investigation in ongoing."

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "We are fully co-operating with the review process which is being undertaken by the Area Child Protection Committee. The ACPC have appointed an independent Chair to identify any lessons that can be learnt from this case."